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Little Tiger
Little Tiger, sometimes known as The Prancing Tiger, is a fanfiction relating to the past and present actions of Visored Roxas and her decision to either take part in the Arrancar-Shinigami-Visored War, or remain a bystander. This fanfiction allows for information on her past (i.e her position as a lieutenant on the Ninth Division) to be brought to light. Little Tiger, Act l Death & Danger: A Beginning Standing alone; something Roxas knew when she had to do. She'd done it ever since she'd been abandoned in Rukongai by her parents, left to fend for herself because she didn't meet their standards. Her parents had been too rich to accept such a poor child, and she could admit it, she didn't care. Her parents were snobs, and could just go screw themselves. Granted, it did hurt being left by your own parents, but Roxas found herself getting over it more easily than others probably could. And here she was, standing—okay, lying—alone in Karakura Town, drowning to death, both in rain and blood. Her companions—or what she'd believed to be her companions—had nearly killed her. Right now, she was only surviving on the power of her Hollow mask. The mask had begun to deriorate about an hour ago, and now only covered her eye socket and some of her nose bridge. It was slowly slipping away and only reminded her that she too was slipping away, into that darkness she'd come to know as Death. Fear hadn't quite dawned on her yet and the pain she was in only made her hope for it to envelope her into its wings of black and take her. The wound in her chest burned, the coolness of the blade still felt even after it had been removed. Again, she prayed for death. But, such a thing would not take her tonight—no—for a certain blonde former Captain had sensed her. Yes, that mass release of spiritual energy had attracted not only his attention, but a certain purple-haired woman also. Her black tail swished behind her as she walked by his side underneath the umbrella, careful to avoid the tears pouring from the sky. She glanced up at her master, curious at his feelings on the situation. His green and white bucket hat protected him from being read and Yoruichi sensed he wouldn't speak until they came across the female they were searching for. They had to find her fast, before the life entirely left her. Why? Yoruichi wasn't quite sure yet. Roxas wanted to panic—to fear—but her body refused to allow her that luxury. She could hear that voice in her head, telling her she shouldn't have been stupid enough to trust—to trust Shinigami—but she ignored the Hollow's comments about her stupidity, not feeling the need to be arguing with her inner Hollow when she died. That would be pathetic—even though her current situation was just as pathetic—. Ururu landed atop the next building, beside the taller man, and Jinta. Ururu had only seen photos of the woman they were searching for and wasn't exactly sure she would know the woman when they saw her. Naturally though, she hadn't wanted to create more problems by asking stupid questions; not to mention that Jinta would probably hurt her...again. "T-Tessai?" She spoke with a slight tremble in her voice. The man just hummed a bit as he looked around them, letting Ururu know he was listening. "This girl-" "WOMAN!" Jinta abruptly yelled at her. "W-woman, I mean. Who is she?" Tessai was silent for a few minutes, taking her question into consideration and rolling it around in his mind. Who was she? She was Roxas, the former lieutenant of the Ninth Division, alongside Mashiro Kuna, underneath Kensei Muguruma. She was also a Visored. And finding her was of an utmost important to Tessai. Why? She was like a daughter to him and Urahara both. Roxas hadn't been able to trust anyone but him and Urahara when she first joined the Gotei, but she eventually came around to trusting Kensei, Hiyori, and Lisa. However, after they all became Visored and Urahara had to remove them, she was abandoned. Tessai hadn't been able to remain either, and thus she'd been left alone. From what he'd been able to gather, she'd spent weeks alone in Kensei's quarters, refusing to allow anyone in, even Head-Captain Genryūsai Yamamoto—which was saying something—. "Her name is Roxas. She's-" Tessai paused, his eyes widened as a flash of purple caught his eyes, "ALIVE!" "Huh?" Jinta asked as Tessai suddenly disappeared. Jinta spotted him down in the street below them. He pointed, seeing the purple hair from the photo. "Ururu! There!" They both quickly jumped down to the almost-flooding street and ran over. They gasped at the large blood-pool surrounding her. Her uniform was torn in several places, revealing large gashes. Her right arm was-by appearance-fractured in two places. Her hair was messy and loose over her face and her sword was at her side, the hilt covered in blood. As they looked over her, they finally spotted the blisters on her palms and flinched. "Is she alive?" "She won't be if we don't get her wounds bandaged." A familiar female voice came from behind them. "Yes, you're right." Another familar voice said rather calmly behind them. "Urahara-sama, will she be alright?" Ururu asked quietly. The man stepped closer to the former Shinigami in response, staring down at her unconscious form. "I don't know, but I hope so." The Goal It was a quiet morning in the Urahara shop, a rare prospect, and the silence was a product of both regret and guilt. Roxas had yet to awake, but it seemed obvious that she was having nightmares. She whimpered and softly whispered a name underneath her breath. Yoruichi spent most of this time at Roxas' side and rarely left this post; she only left once and that was to go grab some food, only to bring it back to Roxas' room and then eat. Everyone within the shop began to hope—no to pray—for the woman's awakening. Even Ururu and Jinta who barely had a grasping of who she was. None of them understood why they were feeling this way, but they also didn't care. It was about noon when the female's green-blue ocean eyes slowly slid open, blinking to adjust to the light, before taking in the area around her. Yoruichi quietly slept, leaning against the wall, looking rather peaceful. She was lying in a simple, makeshift bed, with bandages wrapped around just about every inch of her body. She tried to form a fist, but an abrupt 'yank' on her muscles occurred and viola—more pain. Her time-line of the night before was empty, and she wasn't entirely sure why she was in the Urahara Shop. She ruffled her long purple hair, pressing her palm to her forehead as she felt she was forgetting something. Then, it flashed before her eyes. "THE LETTER!" She shot up in bed, looking around for the object of her worry. "The letter was fake." An abrupt voice cut through her searching. She slowly glanced over at the woman. Yoruichi's gold eyes locked with painfully scarred green ones. Roxas' eyes darkened as she leaned herself forward. A shadow remained over her eyes as Roxas ran over the memories; every memory she'd had with them and they'd betrayed her! All the years she'd spent with them and—. "Fake, huh?" Yoruichi didn't speak; she didn't answer her question. "So it was—" Her fingers tightened on the blankets, sadness creeping up on her. "J-just" Yoruichi's eyes darkened somewhat as Roxas spoke, the first tears of her life falling from her dark green eyes and hitting the blanket as her words came out, broken and lonely, "a rouse to get my Inner hollow out and k-kill me!" "Dolts!" Roxas yelled abruptly, causing Yoruichi to blink in surprise at her insult. Her hands pressed to her face as tears streaked hot and fast down her cold cheeks. If Yoruichi recalled, she'd called... "You big dolt! You could have gotten yourself killed! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! You never rush in without your Fukutaichō , which is if you didn't know Captain—" "Its Kensei." "Is me!" "And that annoying Mashiro." The Captain began to walk away, and she followed him, continuing to complain about his lone wolf attitude. 'That's right. She called Kensei a dolt all the time.' ---- Roxas ate quietly and quickly, her body occasionally shaking as she did so, which was her body's natural reaction to the pain. No-one said anything, in fear of setting her off into crying and sobbing again. However, Kisuke felt the need to break the silence. "Your recuperation may take a while." Her Chopstick abruptly paused in its grasp for the noodles. "How long?" "Perhaps, a month." She expressed neither surprise nor despise. All of the persons gathered at the table around her looked to her as she sat there quietly. "I'll do it in five days." Seeing You Again Kensei stared at the Urahara Shop, his eyes narrowed and looking wildly angered. He had sensed Roxas' spiritual pressure, and this was where it was coming from. He could smell her, as weird as it sounded. He could smell her unique scent of apples and cinnamon, and he could also smell her blood. There were only a few times in her life that her blood had been spilled and only a couple times when she'd been around Kensei, making him able to recognize it. Kensei had quite a few ideas of why she was bleeding, the main one being the most dominant one in his mind. Seriously though, your Captain and second lieutenant don't become Visoreds without something happening to you too. And from what he could sense, a darkness had taken root in her and since he could piece things together, it was obvious that this darkness was her inner Hollow. Kensei breathed a sigh of frustration. He'd never wanted this for her, never. And yet here he was, a hundred and ten years later, kneeling on a rooftop, thinking about it. “Didn't realize you stalked people....” Kensei glanced back, “Captain.” He was genuinely surprised as his eyes locked on her form, casually standing there, her right knee rotated to the right. She had changed a lot. Her hair was noticeably longer and the highlights were more significant. Her skin was more tan, and her body was either more toned, or her new clothes made it look that way. Around her neck, a familiar short red bandana was delicately wrapped, this bandana reminding Kensei of old times. The bandana had been a gift and he guessed she hadn't been able to get rid of it. She wore a black spaghetti strap tank-top that greatly showed off her toned arms and curvy feminine figure; with a pair of black, baggy navy pants that were oddly similar to the ones Kensei wore at that moment. Her regular black, ankle platform shoes were comfortably placed on the tile of the roof. She had a cocky smirk on her pink lips and her eyes were twinkling with amusement. “Is that what they're calling it these days?” Kensei asked, annoyance in his tone. “Calling what these days? Calling stalking what it is: stalking.” “You're annoying.” “You'll get over it.” “When?” “Now.” Kensei sighed heavily, again in frustration. Now that he recalled, he'd never won a single argument with her. Especially when it was over something as simple as this. Silence ensued, as the two awkwardly stood there. Wasn't there a saying about it being awkward after many years of not seeing either? Kensei believed this to be true then. “Tell the guys and gals I say hello.” Roxas said after a little while. “I will.” He whispered quietly. “Tell Mashiro to leave you alone, too.” Deep breath.. “Will do.” “I-its good to see you again.” Kensei didn't reply; not really knowing what to say. “Well I guess goodbye.” Roxas finally broke the silence, sliding down the slanted roof to pause by his side. “I still remember you as my Captain, whether you deny it or not,” She waited before speaking with the title he had learned to forget, “Captain Kensei Muguruma.” And with that, she left him. Captain Kensei Muguruma. He still liked the way she said his name. Turn Back the Pendulum It was night-time and it had been only two days since Kisuke Urahara had been assigned to Squad 12. One of the two lieutenants of Squad 9 was quietly seated atop the roof of the Barracks, staring out at the expanse of Soul Society. The wind lightly blew, her long white hair blowing slightly in the wind. "It's a bit late to be out here, don't you think?" She turned around slowly, an expression of surprise on her face, before relaxing at the sight of her Captain. "I should ask you the same thing." She said, speaking rather quietly. He appeared to notice this, but said nothing and instead found a spot at her side, sitting down slowly. "I couldn't sleep." She said, obviously answering his question from before. "I sensed your spiritual pressure. You were never good at hiding your Reiatsu." "Shut up." Minutes passed. Silence hung in the air like a heavy blanket, suffocating them both. "Its quiet tonight, isn't it?" She took a moment. "Yeah." Her eyes darkened in the slightest, "Its nice." "Something wrong?" "Nothing's wrong, Captain." "Its Kensei." "Whatever." She breathed. ---- "Hey, hey! Are you listening to me, Kensei?" Mashiro, the first lieutenant of Squad 9 demanded of her Captain. "What do you mean by unknown?" Mashiro asked, putting emphasis on unknown. "He means nobody knows, Mashiro." The secondary lieutenant of Squad 9 said pointedly. "You mean nobody knows?" She sighed. "Quiet, already! Unknown means unknown! Quit babbling!" Kensei demanded. "What's wrong with you? A Captain doesn't just go and investigate something that's unknown, without knowing what it is first!" Mashiro explained, waving her hands, which were covered by her sleeves. "We can't know! Its unknown!" Kensei said, annoyance findings its way into his tone. Mashiro was slowly getting to that point where she was going to piss her Captain off. "Mashiro, please, don't-" Roxas began, crossing her arms across her abdomen. "Yeah, but an advanced party was sent out first! Ten people! You could've just waited for them to report," Mashiro changed her tone to mocking, "But no, I'm Kensei, I can't wait!" Mashiro started whining. "Lieutenant, you're doing it again!" Kaname said quickly, waving his hands trying to prevent the premonition from coming true. Kensei flipped around with a growl and went for her, but Shinobu, Heizo and Kaname quickly restrained him, with Roxas trying to get Mashiro to quit. "Sir, please try to calm down!" Shinobu imputed. "You know she gets like this just to annoy you!" Heizo added. "In the first place, I don't even remember asking you to come along!" He shoved Shinobu and Heizo off, "You can leave this investigation anytime!" He turned around again, added even more, "AS A MATTER OF FACT, I WISH YOU WOULD!" "Ooh! Don't you know it's against the rules for a lieutenant to leave her Captain's side? Shame on you for not knowing that, Kensei." Mashiro said smugly. "Mashiro." Roxas said quietly. "STUPID!" Kensei flipped around again and went for her, but were yet again held back by Shinobu and Heizo. Mashiro was lying on the ground, whining and complaining about him not knowing the rules. "Captain, what do we do?" Todo asked. "Ignore her!" Kensei proclaimed, shoving all of them off. Roxas sighed, turning to Mashiro. "Mashiro, stay here, okay? I'll go with Kensei, alright?" She started walking away, her arms now folded underneath her chest. "Roxas?" "Hm?" She turned halfway to look at Mashiro. "Nothing." "Okay." ---- "Woahhh." A young, frightened voice said suddenly. "Huh?" Every member of the Squad turned to look in the direction, seeing three quaking kids standing before a large Hollow. "Is that a Hollow? Its huge!" Roxas stated, taking a step to stand as close to beside her Captain as she was able to get. It took a large step, shaking the ground, before roaring loudly. It looked back at the children. It was a Hollow that was at least over seven feet tall, with six legs (three on each side) and had a strange marking on what seemed to be its forehead. It looked like a dinosaur; it was nothing any of them had seen before. It took another step towards the three children, roaring again. Another step, another roar. The center child made a quaking noise, causing the other two kids to turn to him. "RUN AWAY! RUN NOW OR WE'RE DEAD!" The Hollow pursued them as they turned to run. Its stride is huge! "Faster, faster, run faster if you wanna live!" He grabbed a thick stick and started swinging at one of the Hollow's tongues that had come out. The two paused and turned around as he began to attempt to hit it. "You have to get out of here!" He began to hit it again, before the Hollow used another tongue to wrap around him and lift him into the air. The other two ran quickly, disappearing from the clearing. The Hollow lifted him into the air to eat him. Roxas joined the rest of her Division in running to save him, quickly coming to a stop in front of the large Hollow. "It's a Hollow." Shinobu confirmed. "Its...enormous." Heizo said. "Told you so." Roxas muttered. "What's that?!" "It's a child." Todo answered. Kensei drew his sword, "Let's go." Roxas drew her sword behind him, jumping with Kaname, Todo, Shinobu and Heizo. All of them slashed at it, Roxas taking its mask. Her sword contacted with it, but nothing happened. Damn, his mask is strong. It roared, wildly shaking its two tongues, as the regrouped where they were before. "Damn it." Shinobu cursed. "Five strikes and it still won't let go!" Heizo added. "Move." The Hollow roared again, and the tongue neared its mouth.. Blood flew into the air, the tongue spilling it as it flew across the clearing, before hitting the ground and knocking the child out of it. He slid a while before coming to a stop on his stomach. Kensei took steps until he was in front of the child. He looked up in surprise. Kensei looked down at him, smirking widely. "Hey, hurry up and get outta here. You don't wanna die, do ya?" He quickly ran off, and Kensei moved towards the Hollow. Shinobu and Heizo moved out of the way of one of the Hollow's feet, quickly landing far from the Hollow. "Men, back off!" Kensei yelled. "Yes, sir." They all moved away, Shinobu being the first and Kaname being the last. Roxas stayed, for the reason of being a woman, however she backed off, already knowing what her Captain was going to do. "Now blast away," He readied his Zanpakuto, the spritual pressure already gathering around it, and the spiritual pressure hitting the blade like a hammer, making it stronger, "Tachikaze!" The blade seemed to transform as the green spiritual pressure surrounded it. Kensei waited until the blade had seemed to "cool off". He gave a battle cry, swinging the blade towards the Hollow, the air blades quickly slicing through the Hollow's neck, and two of its legs. Roxas watched as the enormous Hollow collapsed, falling to the ground with a release of what-looked-like-smoke. He sheathed his sword, Roxas appearing at his side, the rest of the 9th Squad joining her. "Nice one, Kensei." Roxas said with a smirk in his direction. He ignored her, "Is everybody alright?" "Yes, sir." The child, who had just ran far enough away to avoid injury, dropped to his knees before the Hollow, beginning to sob. Kensei walked over to him, with the rest of them following. "Hey, what are you crying for, kid?" Kensei placed a hand on his hip, "At least you're alive. You should be happy." He continued to cry. Kensei grinned creepily, "Laugh or else." "That's a bit much, don't you think?" "No I don't." Kensei replied, walking over to the child, and grabbing his arm, "Come on, stand up!" Kensei forced him to stand up. "Kensei." Roxas warned, taking a step forward. The kid tried drying his tears, but the tears continued to slip down his face. "What's your name anyway, huh?" Kensei demanded. "Shu-shuh-Shuhei Hisagi." "Shuhei Hisagi, a mighty strong sounding name..stop crying!" He started sobbing again. "What are you crying about now? I said stop crying! You've gotta be kidding me." "Stop it, Kensei!" Roxas yelled at him, brutally shoving him to the ground, knocking him on his side. He growled and looked in her direction. She gently bent to Shuhei's level, gently grabbing him and delicately encasing him in a hug whilst sending death glares in Kensei's direction. Turn Back the Pendulum ll Kensei recalled how hard it had been when he'd first become Captain. He'd realized that being a Captain was harder than he'd expected it to be and Roxas had forced him to realize this rather quickly. ---- Kensei Muguruma had just become the Captain of the 9th Division, and had decided to go to his quarters. It was pretty much empty for now, as he hadn't moved in yet. He sat in the center of the room, staring at the door. The door was one of the worst things about the quarters; it creaked when opened and had a rather ugly design to the paper. Kensei didn't like it, but he also didn't feel the need to change anything about it either. '' “''What the hell is this?!” An angered voice suddenly shattered the peace surrounding the Ninth Division. Kensei sweatdropped. “''What the hell was that?” Kensei listened closely as he heard Heizo speak.'' “''He's our new Captain.” '' “''WHO IN THE HELL?” The voice rose even louder, hurting Kensei's eardrums.'' “''H-his name is Kensei Muguruma.”'' “''WHATEVER!” '' Kensei decided to approach the annoying, and loud person, showing himself up off the floor. He opened the door loudly, a loud bang ringing as he slammed it fully open. He marched quickly in the direction of the argument. '' “''What the hell is going on here?!” Kensei demanded as he opened the door to the meeting room in the Ninth Division HQ. '' ''Two seconds later, he was regretting his decision to go see what was wrong. 'Course that might be the foot in his face talking. Whoever had nearly destroyed his eardrum had kicked him in the face, slamming his head into the wooden floor. '' “''You're my new Captain, huh?! You're the worst Captain I've ever met! Honestly, you couldn't even dodge this kick!” She continued to rub her sandal into his nose, before Kensei roughly grabbed her ankle and threw her off him. She glared back at him as she landed effortlessly on her sandal-ed feet. “''Who in the hell are you?!” Kensei demanded, rubbing his nose. She smirked, placing a hand over her chest.'' “''I'm Roxas! Your Seventh Seat!” '' “''Seventh Seat, huh?” He rubbed his red nose, “That's a lot of power for a Seventh Seat!”'' “''Rank doesn't determine power,” She smirked wider, “Obviously.”'' “''Why you little-”'' “''I AIN'T LITTLE!”'' “''Stop fighting!” Shinobu abruptly broke in, boldly breaking up the fight.'' “''You're not worthy of being the Captain of the Ninth Division and I will never accept you.” With that, she stomped off. '' “''What's wrong with her?!”'' ---- So maybe it hadn't been the best of ideas kicking the new Captain in the face, but Roxas really didn't care. The original Ninth Division Captain was gone and here she was, trying to force herself to accept it. The moon above Soul Society presented a slight spotlight on her form, but still the darkness remained over her eyes. Why had her Captain departed? And where had he gone? Why had he left her all alone in the Division? '' ''She sighed, looking up at the moon and seeing her Captain's smiling face flash before her eyes. Damn it, now she felt guilty. Why? She wasn't exactly sure. Maybe it was never being able to say goodbye, or maybe it was because she was blaming herself for his departure. Either way, she had a new Captain and he was going to be her Captain for probably the rest of her life. She might as well stop kicking him in the face, right? It was at least worth a try. Sigh. The following morning, Roxas marched her way towards the Captain's Quarters. It was almost high noon and so she expected the new Captain to be awake. Placing herself in front of the door, she placed herself on her knees and then placed her palm flat on the wooden floor. “''Sir, its Roxas, your Seventh Seat. Are you awake?” She called, keeping the respect in her voice as she closed her eyes in respect also.'' “''Yeah, come in.” He called. She stood up again, opening her eyes and slid the door open and stepped in, slipping the door closed behind her. She stayed facing it as he spoke from behind her.'' “''Wanna kick me in the face again?”'' She bit back an insult. “''While I'd really love to, your my new Captain and I'm just going to have to accept that, whether I like it or not. I'm your Seventh Seat, meaning I have no r-”'' “''Actually, you're not my Seventh Seat.” '' “''What are you talking about?”'' “''You're my secondary lieutenant.”'' “''Uh, what?” She turned to face him, shocked at his words.'' “''Secondary lieutenant is a position only available in some squads for the reason that some squads have more duties than others. The Ninth Division is in charge of Seireitei Communications and I'm new to the position of Captain. Mashiro Kuna is my first lieutenant.”'' “''Why me?” '' “''Because,” He turned to her, “You're less annoying than Mashiro and you have the power level of a lieutenant.”'' “''I guess I'm your secondary lieutenant, then, so...” Kensei blinked, “I have the right to do this.” She launched at him, surprising him completely, before kicking him hard in the face and shoving him into the floor.'' “''ROXAS!!!!”'' She laughed playfully and quickly darted out of the room, running for the Third Division. Kensei quickly followed her, yelling her name even louder. Turn Back the Pendulum lll Three Years Later "But cappppptaiiiiiiin!" Kensei sighed. Lord, not again. Everytime she did this, it got more and more annoying. Honestly though, with every argument, the reason got more stupid. The reason now, was because Roxas hadn't returned yet. Two days ago, Roxas had been sent on a mission, and oddly enough, Kensei hadn't been informed of the reason. While it made him wonder what it was and if she was alright, Kensei forced himself to stay at the Seireitei, no matter how much he worried about her. Not that he'd '''ever admit it', but she was his lieutenant (and the less annoying of the two) and he worried. But now, he had to deal with Mashiro.'' "She's coming home soon! Just wait!" Wait a second, did he just say home? '' "''Kensei, did you say-?" "Back, yes. I never said home." The hot blush on his cheeks was clearly visible, and the embarrassment at addressing the Ninth Division as her 'home' made him want to jump in a hole and die. He quickly stormed off, leaving Mashiro standing there, mouth open, in surprise at him calling the Ninth Division Roxas' home. ---- Kensei sighed again. Ever since he'd joined this Squad/Division he'd been sighing a lot, but also '''smiling' a lot too. Kensei tilted his head back, looking at the photo sitting on the desk across the room. Rolling on his side and then standing up, he walked over to it. Sliding his bare fingers around the frame, he lifted it up closer to his face. It was from about a year ago. There had been this whole lieutenant 'house-warming' party, to welcome Roxas into her new place. Of course, everyone had gotten drunk—really drunk—and Kensei had realized just how much of a happy drunk he and Roxas were. It would suffice to say that he had never seen her stagger so much in those two years he had known her. It had taken two years to actually be able to do a party because of their bad budget. Of course, everyone saved up—though Kensei saved the most—and it all worked out. The photo he held now had been taken before they'd gotten too drunk, and everyone—including him—were laughing and raising their jugs of beer. It had been a good night, and Kensei recalled that she'd fallen asleep with him in his quarters and everyone in the Division had thought he had slept with her—and they still do—even after the both of them denied it entirely. Roxas had looked cute when she was blush—.'' "Damn it, Muguruma, quit thinking like that!" He put the frame down and went back to lying in his bed. '' "''Sir! I have a message from the 1st'' Division! Are you awake?"'' Kensei quickly sat up. "Enter!" The ugly door slid open to show a Messenger. He listened closely as the Messenger told him the message from the 1st'' Division.'' "I must leave now to lay this message to the other Divisions. Good day." He disappeared. Kensei's eyes narrowed, as Kensei tried to focus his thoughts as he slid his haori on. This was rather odd; he'd never received a message from the 1st'' Division, especially about a lieutenant. What was going on?'' Meanwhile, in Karakura Town Roxas quickly ran into the warehouse, slipping underneath the folds of broken beams and such. She ''held her bleeding thigh tightly, the cut on her cheek going ignored. '' "Damn it! What's going on here?!" The roar of the Hollow interrupted her thoughts. She scooted farther back into the darkness, quickly wiping the blood off her cheek with the back of her hand. Its large footsteps entered the warehouse and she could feel its spiritual pressure suffocating her. She tried her best to breathe, but to almost no avail. Little air was entering her lungs and what air was entering her lungs had specs of dirt in it. While she was tempted to cough, she ignored the reflex, forcing herself to swallow. Eating some dirt would be better than having your soul eaten right? '' "''Second Lieutenant of Squad 9, Roxas, had yet to return from her mission and her spiritual pressure has vanished. As such, Squad 9 will be sent, along-with Squad 3 to investigate. If Lieutenant Roxas should be found, Squad 4 will be dispatched immediately! Captain Unohana, have medical staff at the ready." "Yes, sir." "Squad 9 and 3!" "Yes, sir?" Rose and Kensei quickly spoke up. "I want the child found." "Yes sir." '' Hollowfication The air around Karakura Town was peaceful, until a warped scream echoed through the entire town. The Visoreds stopped what they were doing as it echoed through the warehouse. All of them stood up and walked to Shinji's side as they all attempted to figure out if it was a Hollow or perhaps, a Visored. “Kensei, do you think Roxas could have lost control?” Kensei sighed softly, “Its possible, but Urahara and Yoruichi are keeping her under tight watch. It would be impossible for her to get away from them and even then, they would notice she was gone and go find her and battle her.” “Could they be battling her now?” “No.” Kensei waited a moment before explaining, “She's strong and she'd be even stronger with a Hollow mask. Urahara would have to use Benihime,” He went to continue but was interrupted by Rose. “Which would cause a mass release of reiatsu.” “Yes.” Lisa agreed. “It would be impossible for us to not sense such a large amount of reiatsu.” “Which means,” Shinji's eyes narrowed, “We're going to have to go fight her.” Kensei didn't appear to like the idea, but remained quiet. If he really wanted to protect Roxas, he'd have to help her control the Hollow inside her and that's a fact. As much as he disliked it, he'd have to. ---- Thirty minutes later, all of them landed on the same roof she was on. Her back was to them but they could see the white of the Hollow mask on her face. Similar white material covered her arms and legs up to her knees and only the tips of her toes and fingertips were visible. Her hair was loose and out of the ponytail Kensei had seen her in earlier, and most of her head was covered in the mask too. Kensei's nails dug into the orange gloves. She turned, sensing them, allowing them to see her entirely. Her mask covered the most of her face, allowing for only the glowing violet of her eyes to be seen. Her clothes were slightly torn, mostly around her arms and legs, but there was a slash across her abdomen, underneath her chest and three slashes on both of her thighs. She placed her feet on either side of the tilting roof. “There she is.” Rose said. “Yeah.” Kensei's expression tightened as he looked her over, from her shoes up. “We can do it.” Hacchi said quietly. “Yeah!” Mashiro cheered. “I hope so.” Shinji breathed. “Let's go.” Lisa said quickly, disappearing. She appeared in front of Roxas, swinging towards her. Roxas jumped over the swing, landing on the sword and tightening her left fist and swinging it towards Lisa. Love quickly appeared, blocking the attack from beside Lisa. He moved with his hand, and grabbed what he believed to be her wrist. The white armor was so wide around her arm that he couldn't connect his fingertips. She swung around with her left foot, nearing Lisa's head before contacting loudly with Tachikaze. Kensei battled the strength of her kick with his undying willingness to prevent her from killing any of her companions. She would feel worse enough about Hollowfying and even worse if she killed someone she loved whilst Hollowfied. While Kensei struggled against her left foot, Love struggled to keep hold of her wrist. Her right foot was the only thing keeping her firm on the ground at this point as her right fist was now blocking an attack from Shinji and Hiyori. “Hacchi!” “Bakudo #63. Sajo Sabaku!” The chain appeared behind her and the Visoreds quickly moved away from her as the chain encircled her entirely. Hacchi guided his hands down to the ground, and she was brought to her knees. She gave a cry, trying to get free. The Visoreds moved in and roughly forced her down on the roof, Shinji's sword being the one to lightly tap the mask. However, they were surprised as it didn't crack. “What the hell! Its not cracking!” She yelled out suddenly, throwing her head back and roughly hitting Love in the head. He fell on his back on the building, almost unconscious. “LOVE!” Lisa yelled, moving her foot from Roxas' white leg. “Lisa, wa-” Rose yelled, before looking back to Roxas as she swung her leg forward, successfully hitting—and shattering—the Bakudo Hacchi had just used. “MOVE!” Shinji yelled and they were forced to retreat again, Lisa bringing Love back with her. They watched as she slowly stood up, rolling—and popping—her left shoulder and bending down, placing her hands on the roof. The glowing violet of her eyes didn't fade as she prepared to attack them. “Damn it.” Memories Roxas had always struggled with finding her place in the world. Every-time she'd been able to feel happy, she'd always been so oblivious to it that by the time she returned, it'd be too late. Every-time she'd felt she'd found her place in the world, it was gone, just as fast as she had found it. First, it had been the Seventh Seat in the Ninth Division and then she's become the fukutaichō (lieutenant) of the Ninth Division. But this only lasted perhaps a decade. And then, the Hollowfication... All she could say that she remembered through every second of those times were her oath, to protect Kensei. She's sworn that she'd protect him, even if it meant losing her life, and even betraying the Court Guard Squads. ''"You're not worthy of being the Captain of the Ninth Division and I will never accept you." To think, that she used to hate him so badly that she refused to accept him as the Captain of the Ninth Division. Maybe it had been her own selfish pride, or maybe it was her love of her former Captain. "Because," He turned to her, "You're less annoying than Mashiro and you have the power level of a lieutenant." '' ---- ''"Something wrong?" "Nothing's wrong, Captain." "Its Kensei." "Whatever." ---- "What's wrong with you? A Captain doesn't just go and investigate something that's unknown, without knowing what it is first!" '' ''"We can't know! Its unknown!" ---- "What's your name anyway, huh?" "Shu-shuh-Shuhei Hisagi." "Shuhei Hisagi, a mighty strong sounding name..stop crying!" ---- "Wanna kick me in the face again?" "While I'd really love to, your my new Captain and I'm just going to have to accept that, whether I like it or not. I'm your Seventh Seat, meaning I have no r-" "Actually, you're not my Seventh Seat." ---- "I promise I'll protect you, no matter what it takes, Captain Kensei Muguruma." ---- "I still remember you as my Captain, whether you deny it or not," She waited before adding the rank he had learned to the forget, "Captain Kensei Muguruma." ---- "And suddenly everything old, is new again."''' Category:Fanfiction